Air conditioning of building spaces consumes large amounts of energy in the United States and elsewhere. It drives electricity usage during peak electricity demand and is the single largest user of electricity in U.S. buildings. Thus, reducing energy consumption requires innovative and cost-effective solutions for conditioning building spaces.
Residential construction practices are progressing towards conditioning technologies with higher energy efficiencies. However, current heating and cooling systems do not typically offer capacities suitable for low-load homes, while installation of over-sized heating and cooling systems into low-load homes results in unnecessary, excessive costs and reduces the efficiencies of the conditioning systems. One alternative is the room air conditioner. However, room air conditioners have not been a popular choice for newly constructed, single family homes due to their poor aesthetics and the desire for uniform climate conditions throughout the entirety of a home. More complicated systems tend to be more difficult and expensive to install and custom designed for each particular installation.
Thus, a need remains for efficient, inexpensive, and attractive space conditioning systems. Also desirable, are systems that effectively provide uniform space conditioning throughout low-load homes and higher cooling capacities than traditional room air conditioners. In addition, such systems should be easily installed by the homeowner or renter, while minimizing exposure to and loss of refrigeration fluids from the air conditioning system.